STOCKTON — A woman was killed Thursday night when she was attacked by a pit bull that has terrorized an east Stockton neighborhood for months, authorities and residents said.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a dog mauling at 8:19 p.m. in the 400 block of North Lillian Avenue, a residential street just east of Highway 99 and north of East Miner Avenue.

When deputies arrived, they found a dead woman who appeared to have been attacked by a dog, Sgt. Tom Rees said. Rees wouldn’t describe the woman’s injuries, but he said “there’s a lot of blood” and described the dog as a “big, nasty pit bull.”

Neighbors were saddened and angry but not surprised. Some said the dog has jumped fences to attack other animals in the neighborhood. Rita Vasquez said it attacked her dog and once bit her late husband, adding that the dog’s owner has other pit bulls on the property. Vasquez said her husband reported the attacks to the Sheriff’s Office, but authorities said there was little they could do at the time.

“We have grandchildren, and I won’t even let them go out back to play on the swing because of those dogs,” she said. “I’m just hoping they take them away. Why did somebody have to get hurt for something to happen?”

Read Friday's Record for more on this story by reporter Jason Anderson.